Tracy down - ratings up

CORONATION Street killer Tracy Barlow was jailed for life last night - watched by millions of viewers. The soap trial of the decade saw the jury return a guilty verdict, having decided she murdered lover Charlie Stubbs. Now Tracy, played by Kate Ford, is beginning life behind bars and about to say a poignant farewell to Weatherfield and her young daughter Amy - they will be separated for at least 15 years.

CORONATION Street killer Tracy Barlow was jailed for life last night - watched by millions of viewers.

The soap trial of the decade saw the jury return a guilty verdict, having decided she murdered lover Charlie Stubbs. Now Tracy, played by Kate Ford, is beginning life behind bars and about to say a poignant farewell to Weatherfield and her young daughter Amy - they will be separated for at least 15 years.

The next time viewers see her - in an episode next Sunday - Tracy is alone in her prison cell, with only a picture of Amy for company. Her final scene is when she turns her back on her family after they refuse to fund an appeal for her.

Devastated by their daughter's sentence and the knowledge that she killed in cold blood, Ken and Deirdre are left to pick up the pieces of their marriage as Amy leaves the Barlows to live with dad Steve.

Two endings to the trial were filmed on location at Bradford City Hall, as soap fans were kept guessing until the final moments.

Verdict

Homes across Britain came to a standstill when the verdict was announced.

The storyline has attracted huge audiences and critical acclaim.

Coronation Street's highest ever ratings came in 1987, in the days before the explosion of other channels, when 26.6m viewers watched Hilda Ogden's departure.

In 1981 24m fans saw Ken and Deirdre marry for the first time, followed by 20m for the Ken, Mike and Deirdre love triangle in 1983.

Richard Hillman's confession in 2002 attracted 19.4m, viewers, with 20m tuning in for Steve and Karen's wedding the same year.

And 19m people watched Deirdre wrongly imprisoned in 1998, when Tony Blair told MPs in the Commons he would intervene.

But no-one could save Tracy. Coronation Street producers decided the only option was to see her jailed after she falsely claimed to be the victim of domestic abuse.

A Street spokesman said: "Coronation Street is a moral show where cheats and murderers rarely prosper, so there was no way Tracy could ever get away with this crime."